Chapter 9 #2
She looked around for something to press against his temple but couldn’t find anything. It didn’t look that bad now that she got a closer look, but head wounds always bled copiously.
“I hit a rock,” he said with a groan. “I think I bruised a rib or two in the process.”
Her eyes widened, and she tried to wiggle away. He let out a harsh breath and tugged her closer.
“Don’t move. You’ll jostle me.”
“Then I shouldn’t be on your lap at all.”
He opened his eyes to meet hers. “I need to know you’re okay, Holly. I need you in my arms. I can ignore my ribs for now as long as I know you’re here.”
She stayed still, but worry and fear webbed their way around her heart. “I’m hurting you.”
He winced but reached out to cup her face. “No, you aren’t. The rock hurt me. I’m just so fucking glad you’re alive, baby. I don’t know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt. You’re okay, right? Nothing aching?”
Just her heart.
Tears slid down her face as the others worked around them, talking, making sure everyone was okay, but she only had eyes for Brody.
“I almost lost you,” she whispered. She’d been so angry with him, but now it felt all wrong.
“You didn’t,” he croaked. “But I could have lost you because I’m a fucking idiot. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I shouldn’t have destroyed what we could have because I couldn’t face myself. I lied, Holly. I lied, and I hurt both of us in the process.”
She swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
“I love you, Holly Rose. I love you so fucking much. I was so scared to hurt you or let anyone close that I ignored the fact that you were already as close as you could possibly get. I love you. I want you in my life and in everything else that’s part of me.
I want to make more lists with you and find out what else we can do together.
Forgive me, baby. Forgive me for acting like an asshole with his head buried in the sand.
Please tell me you still love me. Please don’t walk away like I did to you. ”
Tears were flowing freely as she pressed her fingers to his lips. “This isn’t the shock of the accident talking, is it?” She wasn’t sure if she could bear it if it were.
He kissed the tips of her fingers, and she lowered her hand. “I came here today to tell you all of that. I just didn’t expect to almost lose you to water before I did.”
She hadn’t made the connection, and now she was breaking for him all over again. Oh, hell, this must be killing him, but if what he said were true, then he’d come down to the river for her, and had wanted to say all of this before the accident.
So she did the only thing she could do.
She took that risk.
Jumped off that bridge.
Fell once more.
“I love you, too. I’ll always love you, Brody.”
“Always,” he whispered.
The EMTs came over at that moment, and she got off his lap. “Hey,” he called out, gripping her hand. “Unzip my pocket, I have a present for you.”
One of the EMTs snorted, and Holly laughed. “What did I tell you about your lines? You need to work on them.”
Brody laughed and then coughed. “Ouch. Okay. Laughing isn’t good right now.”
The EMT who hadn’t made a sound before shook his head. “Pretty sure you bruised a rib, but you get to take an ambulance ride to make sure it’s not broken.”
“Yay,” Brody said dryly.
She pressed her lips together, worry for him washing through her. “Brody.”
“I’m going to be fine,” Brody explained. “Can she ride with me?”
The EMTs looked at one another and nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to check everyone out just in case, but she can ride with you.”
“Good, now check my pocket, baby. I promise it’s something you want.” He winked, despite the pain she saw in his eyes. “And not that.”
She huffed out a breath and bent to unzip his pocket. When she pulled out a small, waterproof bag, she frowned.
“Open it,” Brody said as the EMTs worked on him.
Her hands shaking, she did as he asked and gasped. It was a silver—or white gold, she wasn’t sure—charm bracelet. But that’s not what made her cry. No, it was the charms he’d placed on there that made her want to wrap her arms around the man she loved and never let go.
A water droplet for today.
A taco, of all things, for their meal.
A bike for their first meeting.
A star…a star for their nightly ride under the stars.
A bridge for her fall.
“I know a guy who makes jewelry, and he helped me,” Brody explained as they made their way to the back of the ambulance. Brody was on a stretcher, and she was blinking hard by his side.
“Of course, you know a guy,” she said dryly. The EMT helped her into the back of the ambulance and she sat next to Brody as the other EMT worked. “I can’t believe you got this for me.”
“I’m missing one, though,” he whispered.
“You got everything,” she said softly. “What on earth could you be missing? You even got the taco.”
The EMT gave Brody a look. “You got your girl a taco charm bracelet?”
Brody grinned at Holly, that dimple peeking out once more. “You had to be there.”
“Apparently,” the EMT said deadpan.
“What is it missing?” Holly asked again.
“A rose,” he said simply. “For the tattoo you’re going to get.”
She blinked. “How…how on earth could you know that? I hadn’t even thought of what I wanted until recently, and I didn’t tell you.”
Brody reached out for her, and she carefully took his hand when the EMT nodded at her. “I know you, Holly. Just like you know me.”
She swallowed hard and did her best not to cry again. She’d cried far too much lately, and all she wanted to do now was just be.
“You’re way too good, you know that?” she said after a moment.
He frowned. “No, I’m not. But you make me a better man. So that’s all I need.”
She gripped his hand as they raced to the ER to make sure Brody was okay, but she knew they would be.
They’d come from places where the world had threatened to take them down, and yet they’d risen from their own ashes.
They weren’t the people they were when they’d been forced to face the fact that those who should have loved them couldn’t.
But now, they were together, and she knew that no matter what happened, they would have each other.
She’d taken the greatest risk of all with Brody Deacon, and now she’d be able to have the most challenging adventure yet—loving him until the end of her days.